- Washington - Senior Iraqi
leaders are fleeing to Syria, which is continuing to send military assistance
into Iraq, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said.
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- "We are getting scraps of intelligence saying that
Syria has been co-operative in facilitating the move of the people out
of Iraq and into Syria," he told a news conference.
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- "Then in some cases they stay there and find safekeeping
there, in other cases they move them from Syria to some other places."
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- Rumsfeld did not say where.
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- He later told reporters after a Congressional appearance
that those fleeing into Syria might include "some family members"
of Saddam. He gave no further details.
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- Search continues for Saddam
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- His comments come as the search continues for President
Saddam Hussein.
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- Iraqi opposition leader Ahmad Chalabi said Saddam and
his two sons may be alive and hiding in north-east Baghdad, though he did
not give any evidence to back up his claim.
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- Meanwhile, Russian officials have strongly denied claims
that President Saddam Hussein is hiding in their embassy in Baghdad.
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- Reports from Lebanon suggested Saddam was trying to negotiate
a deal allowing him to go free in return for surrendering.
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- They came after a stament from the speaker of the Lebanese
parliament, Nabih Berri.
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- US told to ensure safety of Russian diplomats
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- Russia has denied the claims and called on the United
States to ensure the safety of its diplomats in the Iraqi capital.
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- "This type of claim absolutely does not and cannot
correspond with reality," Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Alexander
Yakovenko said in a statement.
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- "This is just another attempt to put our Baghdad
embassy under threat," Yakovenko said.
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- Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov urged his US counterpart
Colin Powell in telephone talks on Wednesday to ensure the safety of Russian
diplomats in Baghdad, three days after a convoy carrying the Russian ambassador
to Iraq came under fire as it headed out of Baghdad towards Syria.
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- "We again underlined the need to ensure the safety
of Russian embassy workers in Baghdad," the foreign ministry said
in a statement.
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- Russian ambassador to Iraq Vladimir Titorenko has accused
US forces of deliberately shooting at the convoy, which was also carrying
about two dozen embassy staff members and journalists.
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- "Any attack against our embassy will be considered
as a serious violation of the Vienna convention on diplomatic privilege
and immunity," Yakovenko said.
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- Berri uses incident to back up Saddam claim
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- Berri used the incident to back up his claim that Saddam
could be hiding in the Russian mission.
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- He pointed out that Titorenko had returned to Baghdad
from Syria - allegedly to bring out an embassy driver wounded in the incident
and a diplomat who stayed to look after him - following the visit to Moscow
on Sunday by US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
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- Rumours circulated ahead of the start of the US-led war
in Iraq last month that Russia was helping negotiate a deal with Saddam,
offering him exile in Russia if he agreed to step down from power to avert
war.
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- http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1345447,00.html
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